Paraiso & Camino Del Sol Cabarete

... three weeks she had organized her first spay/neuter clinic, and now she works with all the local vets. She had been living in SF, but she moved to the DR to decrease costs and allow her to work for Animal Balance full-time - a brilliant move. She's really a force. So we enjoyed a cold glass of water while catching up in her peaceful, tropical garden.<br><br>Emma also had some great recommendations for places to go, so after we left her house we ...

Our good luck with the guaguas continued, or maybe they're just good here. Our trek to Rio San Juan required four buses, and we weren't really sure of the route, but we made it quickly and with no complications. We headed straight for a hotel listed in the guidebook that sounded great, but we had heard different prices from different people. When we walked in, we both said, Oh no, this doesn't look like a place ...

<!--StartFragment--><br><br>Greetings,< br><br>Sitting<br>in the sun in Sosua, it's a little seaside town about 2 hours from Santiago.<br> It's beautiful here.  We have had access to a private beach, which<br>has been so relaxing.  We've been sunning for a few days now, and are<br>headed back to Santiago this afternoon.  One more night in the Dominican<br>Republic, and back on a airplane tomorrow, headed home to my family!  It's<br>been a long trip and ...

... imagine what it smells like, and what a health risk it is to live there.<br>I saw a little boy today.  He is 4 years old.  He lives with his parents and 4 siblings in a one-room "house" built out of rusted tin and tires.  Upon meeting him, I could tell that this child was gravely ill.  He contracted Dengue Fever over a week ago, was hospitalized, but released home.  I'm not sure ...

... aren't spoiled by anybody,<br>Who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,<br>Who live and move, but have no being.<br>We pray for children who want to be carried,<br>And for those who must,<br>For those we never give up on<br>And for those who don't get a second chance.<br>For those we smother,<br>And for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer it.<br> -----by Marian Wright Edelman 

... community (men go for seasonal work).  The women recently learned how to make candles and bracelets, which they are allowed to go outside the Batey to sell, but have to "pay off" the checkpoint guards when they enter and exit the compound.  There are so many moral and ethical issues surrounding the Bateys, too numerous to mention.  The children came running to meet us, some naked, some ...

... a really artsy-fartsty town. Me gustolo mucho (I like it a lot). In Las Terrenas, we horseback rode up this steep trail and saw one of the largest waterfalls in the Caribbean. My horse is named Princesa- pretty appropriate, no? Just kidding... anywhoo.. I had a fun conversation with one of the guides on the way back down while trying to figure out the best way to ride a horse. Riding a horse is definitely not one of my fortes. It's ...

... space like a troubled satellite, endlessly bouncing off these forbidding celestial rings. Needless to say, when I moved back to Dubuque and discovered myself returning to orbit, I didn't think anything of it. But when I heard similar complaints about the difficulty of breaking into the city's ironclad social circles coming from a group of quasi-expat friends, I decided something needed to be done. Being ...

... and a zinc roof - pretty nice compared to a lot of the other houses in the community, which are palm board. We also have running water inside (a kitchen sink and a shower with a spigot below) and a flush toilet, which is unusual. Most people have latrines and store water in barrels for cooking, cleaning, etc. We have electricity about 6 hours a day, but it is not on a regular schedule. My family does not have an invertor or generator, so when there is no light we use candles, gas ...

... another pool. Same thing next fall. 3rd fall is frickin HUGE. No place for hands and feet. Still don´t know how I got up that one. 4th, 5th, and 6th were a blur. Now, to get down. 1st one slid on butt down natural waterslide. scraped both elbows. 2nd one slid and banged both knees (I have souveniers). 3rd was cake. 4th? Holy Shiite Muslims. There was a rock about 2 stories up and a deep pool down below. Now, I could have ...